Mishmash dialect, give your dog a bone

A few weeks ago, before I forgot that I had a blog, I saw Busy Mom do a vlog about accents.  She got the idea from Liz, who got the idea from NYCPatty.

I know most people don’t actually watch videos posted (or maybe it’s just me), but I hope you’ll stay.  I’ve missed you all and have been feeling like I need to say hi and check in to see what you all are up to.

So anyway, I find accents fascinating.  Maybe it’s because I’m a Speech-Language Pathologist by trade or maybe it’s because I’ve lived in the Midwest and in the South and have kind of a mishmash dialect.

In the video, I’ll be saying the words listed below.

Aunt, Route, Wash, Oil, Theater, Iron, Salmon, Caramel, Fire, Water, Sure, Data, Ruin, Crayon, Toilet, New Orleans, Pecan, Both, Again, Probably, Spitting image, Alabama, Lawyer, Coupon, Mayonnaise, Syrup, Pajamas, Caught

* What is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house?

* What is the bug that when you touch it, it curls into a ball?

* What is the bubbly carbonated drink called?

* What do you call gym shoes?

* What do you say to address a group of people?

* What do you call the kind of spider that has an oval-shaped body and extremely long legs?

* What do you call your grandparents?

* What do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket?

* What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining?

* What is the thing you change the TV channel with?

I’d love if you’d play along, if you do, let me know in the comments section!

P.S.  In the video, I realized that I failed to mention that I also lived in Oklahoma and Kansas.  It would be unfair if those fine states missed their chance at instant stardom here on Playgroups are No Place for Children.

Glutton for punishment

When January 1st rolled around, I breathed a huge sigh of relief and took a break from photography.  For 365 days prior, I had taken a photo a day, EVERY DAY.

The 365 project that I completed was probably the best thing I ever did for my photography skills.  It really forced me to practice everyday, not that I took great pictures everyday (I didn’t), but I had to think about lighting, composition, exposure, white balance, focus, posing, editing, and my camera constantly.  I look through my photographs from last year and can see improvement, I can see what I did right and I can see what I did wrong.

After 365 days of anything, you get kind of sick of it, you know?  I decided to try and complete a weekly, instead of daily, photo challenge.  My scattered brain is just not disciplined enough for that, I went weeks and only took about ten photos total (all out of focus).  I started leaving my camera at home instead of taking it with me everywhere and had to rely on the camera on my phone.   Which?  Just isn’t the same.

I guess I’m a glutton for punishment because on March 1, I decided to start anew!  One picture a day for the next 365 days.  I’m all stocked up on Smarties (thanks for the tip, Marie), I’m back to reading the forums at Clickin’ Moms, and I think I’m going to take a Clickin’ Moms workshop (thanks Beth for the inspiration).

And did I tell you all that I’m shooting a WEDDING in July?  GULP.  I am.  A wedding.  A real one with a bride and groom and one chance shots.

Game on.

Adjusting goals

Last night was the end of Ella’s soccer season and the awards ceremony.  This season she learned about defending the ball, keeping in control of the ball, and playing on a team.

The most important thing, though, that Ella learned when playing soccer this season was this:

She shouldn’t shoot pretend Spiderman webs at her teammates during games.  I think we can now safely say this soccer season was raging success.

Tate and I are so proud of her!

All grown up

It’s our nightly ritual, I snuggle in beside Carson and forehead to forehead we discuss very deep topics like Mario and Dino Dan.  Somehow last night we ended up on the subject of spring and our eagerness for it’s arrival.

“Carson, did you know that my birthday is on the first day of spring?” I asked him.

“It is?” he seemed impressed.  “Are you going to be forty?”  Well.

Later on in the evening, I was thinking about being grown up and inching closer to forty (in four years and twenty days, but I’m not counting!).   By any standards, I’ve been grown up for quite some time.   I have a mortgage and two kids that I feed EVERYDAY.   I can actually afford to buy name brand food instead of generic at the grocery store, I burn candles instead of saving them, and I know how to improvise in the kitchen.  I have regular conversations with my children about the importance of wearing clean underwear everyday, no matter what.

I look in the mirror and see wrinkles and I no longer get carded to buy wine.  My feet are bigger and my hair is thicker and becoming more dry.  There are kinks to be worked out of my stiff joints when I wake up every morning.  Fiber is an important part of my diet.

When I think of who I am, the me on the inside, she’s not the person I imagined I’d be when I was younger.  I thought that getting older would mean I would be changed from the inside out.  I just knew that when I was thirty-five, I would be old, breathless, and dull.  My clothes would be stiff and my hair cut in a practical bob.  I thought that by now I would know things that I don’t.  The only thing that separates me from that earlier version of my self is simply a checklist of things I’ve accomplished.  (Well, that and sensible shoes.)

I’m still the girl who laughs with my head thrown back and mouth wide open, likes eye-liner and Led Zeppelin, loud.  I do an occasional cartwheel for no reason in the middle of my living room.  I still cry easily.

I’m still me.

Goodbye Thomas

Ever since Carson was just a little guy, he has loved Thomas the Tank Engine.  Our playroom, a virtual Island of Sodor, is filled with Thomas, his engine friends, and all the track and cargo two kids could ever want.  Between Netflix and our collection of DVDs, we have probably seen every episode of Thomas ever made.  Like a preschool-aged frat house, we regularly quote lines from Thomas movies, “bust my boilers! Cinders and ashes!  Sir Topham Hatt was cross!”

I haven’t always liked Thomas, but since he’s been such a big part of our lives for nearly five years, I can’t help but have a special place in my heart for that cheeky, little blue engine.

This week at the library, I found what I thought was the holy grail of children’s literature, a collection Thomas stories written by the Rev. W. Awdry, the author and creator of Thomas.

“Look!  Carson!  Ella!” I waved them over to the where I was standing.  “Look at this book!  It has every Thomas story in it!”

“Oh.  Yeah,” Carson and Ella shrugged with polite indifference.

Later that night after reading a few of the stories, I mentioned to Carson that we should look on Amazon to see if we could find the book so that we could buy it and have one of our own.

“Nah,” Carson said.  “I don’t think I really care about Thomas anymore.”  I tried not to audibly gasp.  “I like Mario and Spiderman now.”

To think that I never thought this stage would pass and now, here we are on the verge of the end!  I’m going to wake up tomorrow and it will be time for him to leave for college, won’t it?

Plinks

I wanted to spread some love around today so here are some links to some of my favorite things I’ve either recently purchased or received as gifts from Etsy.  I love handmade items and supporting small business, though to be honest and in an effort to seem less self-righteous, I should tell you that I also love me some Target and other big box stores.   Disclosure:  This isn’t an ad, this isn’t a paid endorsement, these are just things I like.

Several people at Blissdom commented on my super cute camera strap cover, it came from this shop, Red House Seamstress.

My husband bought me this purse for Christmas from Paco and Lupe, I love it!  It’s very exotic, it comes from a foreign country!  Canada!

Since many of the men in my life love hunting and guns and man stuff, I’ve purchased two gorgeous rifle slings from this shop, LeatherPro.  I don’t have a picture, but just trust me, they’re manly and slingy.

I got these rings for Christmas, too, ONLY $10!! Such a deal! From Forevermore Creations.

For their birthdays, we bought both of our moms beautiful, framed stained glass from Beaded Glass. I don’t have pictures of these, but they are lovely and I wish I had one for my home.

And finally, I just bought the compassion heart bracelet from Sistacreations, a local shop here in Knoxville.  100% of the proceeds (100%!!!) go to Manna House, a food pantry that feeds hungry families in Knoxville.

Preschools and Chevys and the problems they create for me

I’ve been looking back at some of my recent posts, and MAN!  The cheese!  I need to spread out those mushy feel good posts a bit more because I’m annoying myself.

It could just be that I’m feeling a little crabby because I’ve been up since 5:15 this morning.   I had to drive (AT 5:15 THIS MORNING) to my children’s preschool to pick up a number for my place in line to register Ella at 9 AM for next school year.   Supposedly people were in line by 4:45, so by my getting there “late”, I was number 37.  I was still able to get Ella into the class I wanted, and I don’t have suggestions for a better way to do this, so complaining seems a bit douchey, but STILL.  Preschool and all the hoopla and stress surrounding it is absurd.    I don’t know how you people who live in big cities and have to put your kids on waiting lists at schools while you’re pregnant deal with this!

I don’t really know how to segue into a new topic, so how about this:  Hey!  Let’s talk about something else!  Did I tell you that I wrecked my husband’s beloved truck?  The one we bought a little over a year ago, used with only 8,000 miles on it, pristine condition, for a great price?  The truck that still has a slight new car smell?   The truck that he’s so proud of and loves A LOT? His Chevy Avalanche?

That’s the one!

Before I tell you how it happened, I’d like to point out that the last time I had an accident was when I was sixteen.  It was right after school, I was rocking out in my 1987 Chevy Nova and people standing at the exit of the school were handing out flyers for either 1) my salvation through Jesus or 2) a rave.  I don’t remember which, it doesn’t matter, except that I was reading the flyer, head down, not at all watching the road in front of me when suddenly  there was a school bus, a short one, stopped in front of me.  I didn’t exactly smash into the short bus because I slammed on my breaks, but I did tap it, leaving a cracked blinker and a small dent in the front fender.

Nineteen years between accidents is pretty impressive, right?   Perhaps impressive isn’t the right word.

So the night before I was leaving for Blissdom, I had to drive my mother in law to the kid’s school to show her the drop off procedures.   I pulled up a little too far to point out through the window where she would go to pick them up, and since it was late and the parking lot was deserted, I made the very dumb decision to just back up without looking.  That’s when a brick pillar jumped out and hit the beloved Chevy Avalanche, leaving a cracked blinker and dents (plural) in the rear fender.

As of right now, we are waiting on some parts to arrive at the body shop so that it can be fixed.  I can’t even bear to look at the truck, I feel absolutely terrible about the pillar jumping out and hitting me.  I can’t even look at other Chevy Avalanches in all their unblemished glory.  Until it’s fixed, I don’t think this nervous tummy feeling is going to go away.

Themes I detected while writing this:  That preschool is causing me all sorts of problems and maybe I shouldn’t be allowed to drive Chevys.